Formaldehyde compound and process of making same.



Unirnn s'rATEs PATENT orrion.

WiLHELM osnonnn, or MUNICH, GERMANY, assrduo'a TO THE FIRM or CHEM.-

PHARM. LABORATUBIUIVI same M. n. 11., or MUNICH, GERMANY."\

FGRIE'IALDEIEIQDE COliiPOUND AND PROCESS OF.1V.[AKING $AME.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l'Vim-inmr Osuouun, a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, residing at Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria. Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvenumts in Formaldehyde Conipounds and Processes of Making the Same; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present inyention relates to the art of preparing con'ipounds of formic aldehyde with the carbohydrates and particularly the sugars,

It has beenfonnd, in dealing with the compounds of formic aldehyde with the sugars of the cane sugar group, that they are obtained in a dry conditionwith very great difficulty. In, order to obviate this difiicult-y with compounds of thisfcharacter ithas been foundnecessa-ry to add thereto supplements consisting of powdered sugar, haloid compounds ofthe alkali metals, tartrat-e of potassium and so forth. There is also known in theart a formic aldehyde compound of lactose, which compound can only be brought to complete dryness by directiug a current of thoroughly-dry air upon and't-h'rough the same for a'sustained period of time. The object of the present invention is to produce a formic aldehyde compound of a sugar. or carbohydrate which is not open to the above objections, and in the course of my experiments in this direction I have found that a compound of formic aldehyde with malt extract can be prepared which obviates this difiiculty.

In the compound prepared according to my invention, which is to be described hereinbelow, no sustained current. of dried air is necessary, nor are any further additions to th -compound required to obtain it in a perfectly dry oondition I haw-found that if malt extract is heated in a vacuum to from to centigrade together with formic aldehyde :1 solid pulverizalole compound of malt extract with "formic aldehyde is immediately obtained, that is to say, without any further drying steps or additions.

The formic aldehyde may be combined with the' malt extract echo-gee addingthereto pure formic alde- Specification of Letters Patent.

enters into a chemical combination,"whose Pat-chiral Apr. at, 1911.

Application filed. October 28, 1009. Serial No. 525,117.

hyde or also by adding thereto a. compound. yielding" formic aldehyde such as paraforn'laldehydc. also known as trioxyincthylcne. Any addition of a compound splitting of! or yielding formic aldehyde. to the maltfcxtract is to be considered, for the purposes of this application, as the addition of formic aldehyde to malt extract. or the treatment of malt extract together with formic aldehyde.

The new formic aldehyde compound yielded by this process is obtained in the form of a yellowish loose powder which, when dry, does not smell of formic aldehyde. This compound readily soluble in water a1..l hygroscopic. and at temperatures below 100 centigrade, as well as under the action of moisture, it splits of! the formaldehyde. By these characteristics it is essen tially distinguished from the known formic aldehyde compound'of dextrin which latter is entirely insoluble in water and is not decomposed at 180 Centigrade.

The chemical composition of the: formaldehyde compound of malt extract is such that each molecule of the maltose contained in the malt extract is combined with five the content of formic aldehyde by titration with anriodin solution gave from 25.20%

to 25.44%. Since the malt extract employed contained 75% of maltose, the calculation of the content of maltose, in case the same formula would be, (C' H' CL lJ-L). 5011:, will give a content of per cent. for El .s formic aldeljlyde compound of malt extract. There is no doubt, therefore, that the maltose contained in the malt extract is combined with the five molecules of the formic aldehyde.

The following example which constitutes what I consider the preferred method of carrying out. my invention, will serve to fully elucidalethe same: 5 parts of dry malt extract are heated to 60 centigrade together. I

with parts of a 4-0 per cent. solution of formic aldehyde and thereuponthe liquid is latter. These twoingredients are,

" varying this process.

distilled ofl 1n a vacuum at from 00 to 70 cent-i rade. After the'distillation is complete the formic aldehyde malt extract compound remains as a solid pulverizable mass. The evaporation to dryness of the mass may be effected in a vacuum-pan or in a vacuum drying apparatus in which the mass is held in trays. The content of the formaldehyde compound thus produced was found to be'about 25.2% of formaldehyde. The malt extract employed contained about 7 5% of maltose and13a of dextrin. By analysis, it was ascertained thatthis dextrin enters into a chemical combination withthe formaldehyde which contains 23% of the therefore,

in the relative proportions of 77 parts dextrin to 23 parts formaldehyde. Of lOO parts of malt extract formaldehyde compound, 53.5 parts of maltose are hence combined with 22.3 parts of c. p. formaldehyde, and 9.8 parts of dextrin are combined with 2.9 parts of c. p. formaldehyde. The formaldehyde was entirely cmisumed for these conipouuds and the remaining ingredients were found to he umuixed or uncombined with formaldehyde. No free fornu-ildehyde existed in the compound. The proportions given are by weight.

Insteadof'employing dry maltextract, a

quantity. of liquid .orsyrupy malt extract suflicient to yield?) parts of dry malt extract may also be employed without essentially As before stated, the formic aldehyde may be added as pure formic aldehyde or as substance capable of splitting off formic aldehyde such as paraformaldehyde or trioxymethylene may be employed, The latter compounds when heated, and particularly when heated to the temperature given above, will be split up into simple formic aldehyde or yield formic aldehyde, and therefore their use in the above process is in fact the addition of formic aldehyde to the malt extract.

It is to be remarked in this connection that. a solution of formic aldehyde in walter is not to be regarded as a simple unitary --com-. pound-but as a solution containing trioxy methylene with which, moreover, other .i products of polymerization maybe mixed.

, A solution of this character, however, as observed above, will on heatmg be reducedto a solution of simply formic aldehyde.

one molecule of the The new compound is to be used as a medicine and, besides being readily obtained in a dry form, offers the further advantage that it unites with the well known expectorant and demulcent properties of malt extract the antiseptic action ofthe formaldehyde which readily separates therefrom.

It has been found advantageous in the treatment of sore throat, hoarseness and,

generally, throat and bronchial troubles.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The process which consists in adding to malt extract formic aldehyde and heating, and evaporating the resultant mass.

2. The process which consists in adding to malt extract formic aldehyde and heating and then evaporating the resultant mass in a vacuum while heating.

3. The process which consists in adding to malt extract formic aldehyde in the proportion of five molecules of aldehyde to one molecule 'of the maltosecontained in the malt extract and heating, and then evaporating the resultant mass.

4. As a new composition of matter, a dry formic aldehyde compound of malt extract, not having the odor of formiclaldehyde.

readily soluble in water and splitting olf formic aldehyde under the action of moisture and also below 100 centigrade.

5. As a new composition of matter, a formic aldehyde compound of malt extract in the form of a yellowish loose powder, not having the odor of formic aldehyde but splitting it off'nnder the influence of heat and moisture, soluble in water and having the formic aldehyde combined with the malt ose of the maltextract in the proportion of letter to five of'the former. p ,1 i

6. As anew composition of matter, a dry formic aldehydecompound of malt extract, not; having the odor of formic aldehyde, readily soluble in water, splitting off formic aldehyde under the also below 100 centigrade, and containing no freeformic aldehyde;

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my 'sigaiaturc in the presence of two witnesses.

, WILI-IELM- OSBORNE.

\Vitnesses Louis MUEL'LER. Mari-11mm K. HELD.

action of moisture and 

